


Shaded Light

by sticksandinfinitystones



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Gen, Happy, Oneshot, We miss you Cameron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 05:09:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20204260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sticksandinfinitystones/pseuds/sticksandinfinitystones
Summary: 'Carlos never liked night time on the isle. His life there was already scary enough without the veil of darkness encapsulating the whole wretched thing, the absence of light in every sense of the word.'It's the early hours of the morning in Auradon. Carlos reflects.





	Shaded Light

Carlos never liked night time on the isle. His life there was already scary enough without the veil of darkness encapsulating the whole wretched thing, the absence of light in every sense of the word. Nights on the isle were spent in his mother’s closet, scared to move or even breathe in case he set off the traps surrounding him, scared to make noise in case of disturbing his mother. Scared to even exist. Back then, Carlos could never make sense of the darkness. It seemed as if it were eternal.

Nights in Auradon, however, were Carlos’s favourite. In Auradon, the darkness was not as it was on the isle.

It was the early hours of the morning and Carlos had yet to even close his eyes. It had been another one of those evenings he and the VK’s had spent talking into the elder hours of the night, not even noticing time passing by. Mal and Evie had passed out on the couch, all tangled up in one another, the way they always did. Jay had fallen asleep on the floor at the foot of his bed. Jay had become rather notorious for falling at sleep at any given time, in any given place, quite ironic considering his seemingly boundless energy.

Evie and Mal had fallen asleep first. Carlos and Jay were in a deep, hushed debate about whether or not Jay would technically be Dude’s co-parent when they heard Mal’s well-known soft snores start to echo through the room. Carlos had been mid-way through explaining how he planned to re-vitalise the Auradon villain database post-barrier when he noticed Jay clocked out on the ground. He smiled and shook his head, running his fingers through Dude’s fur as he too curled up on Carlos’s bed for the night, ready to greet the sun once again when the next day came.

Mal rolled over and all of a sudden, the snoring ceased. It was quiet. On the isle, quiet was never a good thing. On the isle, if Carlos heard quiet, his senses would be on high alert, his anxiety sending shivers of fear down his spine, making the hairs on his arms stand up. Quiet on the isle was never a good thing as it meant something was coming. Quiet in Auradon, however, was peaceful. It brought Carlos a wave of calmness he had never known before.

Auradon was different now. Many VKs and reformed villains shared their space and the kingdom was better for it. However, when it came to the Villains whose crimes were still unforgivable, there were still restrictions placed by Auradon. Cruella was not free to roam, for more crimes that Auradon had previously known before his arrival. Cruella had no access to him. At least, that’s what Mal had assured him when she pulled him aside after the barrier went down.

“Don’t worry, okay, kid?” She’d said to him, with the upmost confidence and fierce sincerity, “There’s no way she can get to you. I would never let that happen, I promise.”

If it had been back in the isle days or even the early days of Auradon, Carlos still would have been looking over his shoulder, even with Mal’s assurance. Nowadays, he only looked forward.

Out of the window, Carlos could see little foxes running about the grounds, their tiny feet leaving little mud tracks on the patios. They tackled each other and rolled around the grass in pure joy, not dissimilar to the way he and Jay often did. 

Then there were the owls, perched in every other tree, occasionally cooing at each other, having some sort of intricate conversation not long for human ears. Their big, yellow eyes looking back and forth from each other, with more wisdom and curiosity than the people of Auradon could ever know.

The racoons were more sneaky, they didn’t like to be seen. Carlos, however, was very good at spotting any sort creature in his path. The racoons were few and far between in Auradon but there was one in particular that Carlos often saw. He’d affectionately name him scrappy, as his favourite activity was daring to tear into trashcans and long-abandoned picnic baskets for no more than twenty seconds at a time and then run sprinting back to wherever his family might have been. Scrappy was a little racoon, most likely the runt of the pack from what Carlos could tell of his anatomy. Carlos always found himself having a soft spot for the runts.

There was a seemingly never ending scope of trees. Not the mangled, twisted, creepy ones like they had on the isle. Tall, magnificent and encapsulating ones that made you feel safe in their confines. Beyond them he could see the ocean, the ocean that once felt like a prison to him, that now felt like miles and miles of hope and opportunity. It was as if everything had a different meaning to him now.

The nights were always so starry in Auradon. Every single night it seemed like there were diamonds shining in the dark, shining in a way he had never noticed before.

Tonight, the sky was flooded. Carlos looked up at the glistening heavens and saw a million sparkling, peaceful eyes looking back down at him, assuring him that this moment of pure bliss would not be the last, that this paradise would never leave him. The moon looked down on him with the promise that it would eventually move and the sun would come around once again. That’s what the night was to Carlos now. No longer was it a sea of terrifying darkness. Darkness did not exist. It was just shaded light.

The sun wasn’t gone. The sun did not simply die each time the moon rolled in. The stars did not cease to exist when the sun returned. Fire didn’t disappear forever when the candle was blown out. Carlos had learned, light was never gone. It was simply shaded in brief intervals.

That was why the night no longer scared him. In his isle days, Carlos felt no promise that light would ever return to him. Nowadays, Carlos understood that it never left him, even if it seemed impossibly dark. Light was a permanent entity that echoed for eternity.

Light did not go out. Carlos knew this now.

He breathed out a long sigh and rested his chin upon his hand, a peaceful smile naturally curving on his lips. There was no picture, no words, no adequate depiction of emotion that could ever do this feeling justice.

Carlos was happy. And so very full of light.

**Author's Note:**

> I think writing emotions out is one of the most powerful and profound ways of dealing with them. Writing this was incredibly therapeutic to me. If you are also confused and upset and not really knowing how to express your feelings about this terrible, terrible thing, please write. Write just for you. You may find some peace in there.  
This whole piece is really just a mess of emotions I've been needing to get out since the day the news broke. I thought I'd share it in the hopes that it might help at least one of you feel a little better.   
Debby Ryan said 'The world was robbed' and I really think she hit the nail on the head. She also said 'We're better for you' and don't think she could have possibly been more right.  
Cameron, you are loved endlessly. We are all so very blessed that you chose to share your talents, your beautiful heart and astonishing light with us. You made this earth a brighter place in just twenty far too brief years. Your light is infinite. Light does not go out.  
You are so very missed. You deserve more than anything so be here. Unfair is not strong enough a word. 
> 
> My heart, thoughts and every ounce of hope are forever with his family and loved ones. And each one of you who feel so affected during this unfathomably devastating time. Please keep looking for the light. It's always there, I promise.


End file.
